BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Chattanooga's Brooke Hampel hit a layup with four tenths of a second left in the second overtime to lift the Chattanooga women's basketball team to a 71-69, double-overtime win over Samford Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 5-10 overall and 0-1 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga improves to 3-14 overall and 1-1 in league action.
 
"It was obviously a game of runs, we'd go on a run, and they'd come right back," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "We talked about that all week with this team, they play really, really hard, they're never going to go away. I thought we got really good looks in both overtimes, the ball just didn't go through the hole, so it comes down to being able to get stops down the stretch."
 
In the game, Samford was led by Andrea Cournoyer with 17 points and seven rebounds. Sussy Ngulefac posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Shauntai Battle added 11 points, while Natalie Armstrong had nine points and eight rebounds. Annie Ramil grabbed nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.
 
Chattanooga was led by Amaria Pugh with 18 points and seven rebounds. Abbey Cornelius had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Mocs.
 
Chattanooga jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with 7:13 to go in the first quarter following a layup by Sigrun Olafsdottir. With Samford trailing, 10-7, the Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-10 lead with 47 seconds left in the first quarter after a layup by Sanaa Redmond. Samford held a 19-11 lead at the end of the first period.
 
The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 23-11 at the 8:35 mark in the second quarter on a layup by Ngulefac. The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes. With Samford leading, 32-21, Chattanooga closed the half with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just four points at 32-28 at halftime.
 
Chattanooga came back to cut the lead to three points at 36-33 with 5:12 left in the third quarter after a three-pointer by Pugh. With Samford leading, 39-36, the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to take a 47-38 lead after three-pointer by Mallory Hampton with 1:19 left in the third quarter. Samford held a 47-40 lead at the end of the third quarter.
 
The Mocs closed to within two points at 51-49 with 7:02 to play in the fourth quarter after a three-pointer by Addie Porter. Samford stretched its lead back out to six points at 55-49 after a basket by Cournoyer with 4:30 to go. After Chattanooga cut the lead to one at 55-54, a three-pointer by Hampton pushed the Samford lead back out to four at 58-54 with 2:24 remaining.
 
A reverse layup by Olafsdottir cut the lead to 58-56 with 57 seconds to go. A basket by Cournoyer gave Samford a 60-56 lead with 37 seconds to play. A three-pointer by Chattanooga's Dana Jarrells cut the lead to 60-59 with 34 seconds remaining. The Mocs' Cornelius made one-of-two free throws with three seconds to play to knot the score at 60-60 and force overtime.
 
In the first overtime, Chattanooga grabbed a 65-62 lead after a free throw by Pugh. Cournoyer tied the game with a three-pointer with six seconds left, sending the game to a second overtime knotted at 65-65. In the second overtime, with Chattanooga leading, 69-67, Armstrong made a layup with 52 seconds left to tie the score at 69-69. On Samford's last offensive possession, Battle made a three-pointer, but after review, the shot clock ran out just before she got the shot off, setting the stage for Chattanooga's game winner just before the buzzer.
 
Samford will play at Western Carolina on Thursday, Jan. 13. The game is set for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.


 


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